Cooking Together Middle Eastern Recipes – Zaatar Seabass; Khobz Flatbread;
Our cooking together cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your evening and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas.
You Cooked:
- Starter: Saffron Chicken, Khobz Flatbread, Pomegranate Shirazi salad, hummus, Mint Dip;
- Main: Crispy Seabass Tarator, Batata Hara, Moroccan Cherry Tomato Sauce with Middle Eastern Black Rice;
- Dessert: Click here for a link to the Food Sorcery favourites
Saffron Chicken – starter
Ingredients – serves 2
- – Saffron, pinch
- – Pinch of turmeric
- – Pinch of garam masala
- – zest of 1 lemon
- – 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- – 1 red chilli, chopped
- – 1 tsp harissa
- – Plain yoghurt, we used the remainder of the pot from the dip.
- – Salt & Pepper
- – Chicken, either 2 boneless thighs each or a thigh and a leg on the bone.
Method
- Mix the yoghurt, harissa, saffron, turmeric, garam masala, garlic and lemon juice with some seasoning. Taste and adjust accordingly. Smear all over the chicken. Set to one side for a while or even cover and fridge overnight.
- Using the same griddle pan, heat to high and make sure you get plenty of colour and lines into your chicken. You can then pop the whole pan into the oven for about 20minutes at 180C
- Rest the chicken, slice and serve
Khobz Flatbread – starter
Ingredients – Makes 10
- 350ml of warm water (might need a little bit more, depending on strength of your flour)
- 1tsp of fast action dried yeast
- 2tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
- 600g strong white bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
- 1tbsp of caster sugar
- 1tsp of fine salt
Method
Pour the water into a mixing bowl, stir in the yeast until dissolved.
Add the oil, flour, sugar and salt, mix everything and form a quite firm dough, adding more water if too dry, more flour if too wet.
Leave for 10 minutes covered before kneading it until smooth.
Transfer into a floured bowl, cover and leave to proof for 60 minutes.
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and shape into balls.
Cover the balls and rest for 10 minutes.
Flour the surface and roll them about 1 cm thick.
Cover the rolled flatbread and rest for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place a non-stick frying pan on medium to high heat and get it smoking hot.
Place one or two flatbread at time into your pan and cook on each side for roughly 2 minutes.
Good indicator, when to flip, is if start seeing bubbles on top.
Get a clean tea towel and stack your flatbreads in it and wrap tightly.
Rest in the towel for 5 minutes, this will soften the flatbreads.
Pomegranate shirazi salad – starter
Ingredients – Serves 2
- 200g cherry tomatoes, de-seeded and diced
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 1tbsp extra virgin oil
- 2tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1tbsp of molasses
- 1 lime zest and juice
- ½ cucumber, de-seeded and diced
- 5cm of mooli, peeled and diced
- Handful of pomegranate seeds
- Salt and pepper
- 2tbsp of fresh dill
- 2tbsp of fresh parsley
- 2tbsp of fresh coriander
Method
Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, toss and let marinade for at least 20 minutes.
Creamy hummus – starter
Ingredients – Makes 1 large cup
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice, 1 large lemon
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) well-stirred tahini
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt to taste
- 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) water
- Dash ground paprika or sumac
Method
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the tahini and lemon juice and process for 1 minute, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process for 30 seconds more. This extra time helps “whip” or “cream” the tahini, making the hummus smooth and creamy. Add the olive oil, minced garlic, cumin, and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the whipped tahini and lemon juice. Process for 30 seconds, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl then process another 30 seconds or until well blended. Open, drain, and rinse the chickpeas. Add half of the chickpeas to the food processor and process for 1 minute. Scrape sides and bottom of the bowl, then add remaining chickpeas and process until thick and quite smooth; 1 to 2 minutes. Most likely the hummus will be too thick or still have tiny bits of chickpea. To fix this, with the food processor turned on, slowly add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water until you reach the perfect consistency. Taste for salt and adjust as needed. Serve hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and dash of paprika. Store homemade hummus in an airtight container and refrigerate up to one week.
Mint Yoghurt dip – starter
Ingredients – Serves 2:
- – Small pot yoghurt
- – Half cucumber
- – Small bunch mint, small bunch parsley (from above)
- – Salt & Pepper
Method:
- Grate cucumber, chop herbs, mix together with the yoghurt (option to add spices)
Crispy Seabass Tarator – Main
Ingredients Serves 4
- 4x seabass fillet, skin on
- 2 tbsp of zaatar
- 1 tsp of sumac
- 60 ml of olive oil
- 2tbsp of hummus
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- 2tbsp of chopped coriander
- Seasoning
Method
Dry the seabass fillets with a kitchen towel or blue j-cloth.
Heat a non-stick frying pan on medium heat, sprinkle a pinch of salt into your pan.
Score the fish and rub the skin side with a little bit of oil.
Place in the pan skin side down and press on it gently for 10-15 seconds, this will help to keep the skin flat.
Season the top side of the fish with a little bit of salt and pepper as well.
Cook until the meat starts turning white, flip and cook on the other side for a minute.
Spread the hummus on the crispy skin, sprinkle mixture of zaatar and sumac on top.
Serve immediately or, if you prefer warm topping, place in hot oven for 2 minutes.
Garnish with chopped herbs and squeeze some lemon or lime juice all over it.
Batata Harra
Ingredients – serves 2
- – 12 new potatoes
- – 3 tbsp olive oil
- – Red onion, sliced
- – 1/2courgette, diced
- – 2 garlic cloves, minced
- – 2 tsp coriander seeds or a little more than 1 tsp ground coriander
- – 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, more for later
- – 2 tsp ground turmeric
- – 1 lime, juice of
- – 1 red pepper, sliced
- – 1 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
- – 1 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
- – 1 cup chopped fresh dill
- – Salt and pepper
Method
- Place the potatoes in a large pot with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and let them cook in the boiling water for 10 minutes or so. The potatoes should be cooked through but still firm.
- Drain the potatoes and let them cool briefly. Cut the potatoes in half, heat a frying pan on high heat, add some oil and sauté until golden brown, set aside.
- Heat some more olive oil in the same non-stick pan. Sauté the onion for 5 minutes, stir in the garlic, red pepper flakes, turmeric, and coriander seeds. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add the lime juice.
- Toss in the potatoes and mix well to coat. Add ½ of the fresh cilantro, parsley, and fresh dill. Cook for 4 more minutes. Add salt and black pepper to your taste.
- Remove from heat and top with more red pepper flakes and the remaining fresh herbs. You can serve this potato salad warm or at room temperature.
Moroccan cherry tomato sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup)
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped 1 tsp
- 1 red chilli, chopped
- 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste plus a pinch of sugar
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes or similar amount of chopped tinned tomatoes
- 1/4 cup water or more as needed
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
- ½ tsp of palm sugar
- ½ a jar of sweet drop marinated chilli peppers, drained
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1tsp of pepper flakes (Turkish)
Method
- Heat oil in medium pan. Sauté onions for 4-6 minutes until tender and lightly browned. Add garlic, spices, tomato paste (with a pinch of sugar). Stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Add cherry tomatoes, chilli and water. Bring to boil. Then lower heat to simmer, stirring occasionally. The total time will be about 10 minutes, after 5 minutes, help burst tomatoes by gently pressing with spatula or large spoon to burst them (careful not to squirt yourself).
- Stir in sweet drop peppers and coriander. Continue cooking until tomatoes form a sauce the consistency you like. More cooking will make it thicker. Add more water to thin it out if needed. Taste and adjust seasonings e.g., more salt, sugar.
Middle Eastern Black Rice
Ingredients – Serves 4:
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
- 1x red pepper, deseeded and sliced thinly
- 1x chilli, deseeded and diced
- Handful of sugar snaps, shredded
- Handful of coriander, chopped
- 300g of cooked black rice
- 1x lime, zest and juice
- 1tsp of cumin
- 1tsp of paprika
- 1tsp of Turkish Aleppo pepper flakes
- 1x tbsp of olive oil (you can use extra virgin, just be careful not to burn it)
- Handful of chopped coriander.
- seasoning
Method
- Get a big pan on high heat, add oil and get it hot.
- Add red onion, sauté for a couple of minutes, until caramelised.
- Add garlic, cook for 30 seconds.
- Add all of the dry spices and cook for a minute.
- Next, add red pepper and mushrooms, cook for 5 minutes.
- Add sugar snaps and cabbage and cook just for a minute or so.
- Zest lime in your pan, squeeze juice it as well, followed by rice.
- Be fast now, make sure you don’t overcook the rice.
- Finish with chopped chilli and coriander.
Use the link above to explore the Food Sorcery favourite dessert recipes
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